Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) humanitarian assistance, (b) support to (i) local and (ii) regional responders and (c) food aid to people in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the recent London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary announced £120 million which will deliver life-saving services to more than 650,000 people. The majority of this funding will be delivered through key UN agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Programme who will provide life-saving food and nutrition supplies as well as vital water, sanitation, maternal, and hygiene programmes. This uplift also provides support to local responders both through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which supports the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), and the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium for Sudan which provides direct cash assistance to Mutual Aid Groups and ERRs on the ground. Our funding will also support displaced people across Sudan and regional countries affected by conflict.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with (a) the UN, (b) the African Union, (c) Arab states and (d) other multilateral groups to help tackle hunger in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to work closely with multiple multilateral organisations to tackle Sudan's grave humanitarian crisis. At last month's London Sudan Conference, which the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), the League of Arab States (LAS), and others attended, discussions focused on efforts to address spiralling humanitarian aid needs as well as how to bring about a political resolution to the conflict. At the Conference the UK pledged £120 million in new humanitarian funding, which will provide lifesaving aid for over 650,000 people. The UK is also working with both the AU and LAS to align international efforts to ensure unhindered humanitarian access.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure humanitarian access in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access into and within the country. On 13 February, the previous Development Minister convened a Development Ministers' meeting, alongside the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, to focus on how we can accelerate and improve the UN-led international humanitarian response and better coordinate donor advocacy and engagement. At the April London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary highlighted the importance of humanitarian access and the co-chairs' statement from the Conference called on the warring parties to facilitate rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access in accordance with the commitments made in the Jeddah Declaration, and in adherence with their obligations under international humanitarian law. He also announced £120 million which will deliver life-saving services to more than 650,000 people.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) parties to and (b) foreign backers of the conflict in Sudan (i) comply with international humanitarian law and (ii) are held accountable for violations.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In response to the brutal conflict in Sudan the UK is doing all it can to strengthen adherence to international humanitarian law (IHL), to promote accountability for violations and to improve the protection context for civilians. The UK is using its position as penholder at the UN Security Council and leader of the core group on Sudan at the Human Rights Council to keep a spotlight on, and take actions in response to, the human rights situation in Sudan. To bolster our monitoring capacity we are funding the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) who are leading efforts to gather open-source evidence about attacks against civilians and infrastructure as well as leading work to monitor hate speech and incitement of violence across the country. We are also providing support to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to enable their human rights monitoring and reporting, and in October, led the renewal of the UN Fact Finding Mission for Sudan's mandate as part of the Sudan 'Core Group' in the Human Rights Council. These are vital mechanisms to ensure that evidence of human rights violations and abuses are collected, preserved, and can be used to hold perpetrators to account. The UK also strongly supports the International Criminal Court's active investigation into the situation in Darfur, including allegations of crimes committed since April 2023.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on the refoulement of former Guantanamo Bay detainees from third countries.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We urge all States to ensure those in detention are treated in line with international human rights law. Discussions of non-British nationals in Guantanamo Bay are a matter for the US and the nations of those detained.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the governments of (a) Kazakhstan and (b) Yemen on the potential transfer of (i) Sabry Quaraishi and (ii) Mohammed Al-Gbari.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK officials have discussed the cases of Sabry Quaraishi and Mohammed Al-Gbari with representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They will remain in contact with the UNHCR and continue to track these cases.
The Foreign Secretary has not raised these cases with the governments of Kazakhstan or Yemen but has consistently called on partners to respect their obligations not to force persons to return to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the presence of Israeli armed forces in positions within Syria since 8 December 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to call on Israel, and all actors, to uphold their obligations to peace, stability, and security under international law. We are increasingly concerned by Israel's actions in Syria and are raising these concerns directly with the Israeli authorities. Israel have said their presence in the buffer zone in the Golan Heights will be limited and temporary, and we have been clear that we expect them to adhere to this commitment. We recognise current threats to Israel, Israel's presence in the buffer zone must not become permanent.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the promotion of sectarianism in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is engaging regularly with the interim Syrian authorities to support them in taking steps that will deliver a more stable, free and prosperous future for the Syrian people. In my statement to the House on 10 March, and in the Foreign Secretary's public statement on 9 March, we made clear that the interim authorities have a responsibility to ensure the protection of all Syrian civilians and to make progress towards an inclusive political transition which leads to an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government. We will judge them by their actions.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of religious tensions between communities in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned about religious tensions between communities in Syria, and the impact this may have for Syria's stability. Reports that large numbers of civilians have been killed in coastal areas in ongoing violence are horrific. In my statement to the House on 10 March, and in the Foreign Secretary's public statement on 9 March, we have been clear that the interim Syrian authorities must ensure the protection of all Syrians and set out a clear path to an inclusive political transition. We will judge them by their actions.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the decision to reduce official development assistance spending on future trends in the level of Chinese influence on developing nations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of Europe. This Government is serious about our own defence and bearing our part of the burden for collective defence as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As the Prime Minister said in his statement to Parliament on 25 February, we must increase our security and defence spending.
While this will be funded through the difficult but necessary reductions to development assistance, this Government remains fully committed to the UK playing a globally significant role on development; it is both in our national interest and in the interest of our partners across the globe.
China has made a significant contribution to economic development and growth across the world, and the UK and China have over a decade of constructive engagement on international development, to support delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, we also recognise the potential risks that Chinese overseas investment can present, which is why this Government is co-operating where we can, competing where we need to, and challenging where we must.